Manila, Nov. 6 -- A bill has been filed at the House of Representatives seeking to ban the conversion of irrigated and irrigable agricultural lands to promote food security in the country.

Filed by House Deputy Minority Floor Leader and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima on Wednesday, House Bill No. 5762, or the Agricultural Land Conversion Ban Act, seeks to amend Section 20 of Republic Act No. 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991) to better regulate agricultural land conversion by imposing stricter conditions that must be met before land reclassification can be permitted.

"The haphazard conversion of agricultural lands for non-agricultural uses poses serious threats to the country's food security, environmental sustainabil...